Vanilla tea and novels.

Review: Lolita Lempicka

2009-07-06T15:46:00.008+02:00

I have, as dictated by my Day Zero Project, indulged in buying one awesome, expensive bottle of perfume.

(I realize that these types of "goals" are self-indulging and not that straining at all, once you collect the money, but it's my list, so woohoo for me, no?)

I had, previoulsy, bought another bottle of Lolita Lempicka's gorgeous perfumes, named "Fleur Defendue", which I also loved - the smell reminds me of jewellery, somehow. Since I'm not all that good at describing smells, I can only tell you that it made me feel luxurious and that is was just right: not too harsch a smell, but still noticable.

And the bottle is totally cute.

Even though I am a phase-type person, who tends to stick to the same things for very long periods of time, and I do this with perfume as well - White Musk by The Body Shop is awesome - I felt that for something this expensive, it's probably worth it to switch every once in a while. Sort of like: "I am going to spend a lot of money because LL is F-ing good, BUT I may as well try a different scent of hers." I satisfies my need for the familiar while simultaniously making me feel daring, in a sexy type way.
(Dammit, this is my blog, I don't need to make sense if I don't want to.)

So I went to the INNO, which has all sorts of things I'm mainly uninterested in, but also lots of different perfumes, and resolved to try all LL's scents, using The Boyfriend as a judge of what to pick. There was a perfect understanding between myself and The Boyfriend that, despite his overt role as a judge, I was still to decide and that he was not to quarrel with me about this. All was well in the world.

Except it stood there for 20 minutes before the perfume lady came to my assistance and explained that, for LL only, all the bottlecaps had been removed because apparently, people break or steal them.

Anyhoo, I picked the coral box with the heart-shaped bottle in it (which has no name. This annoys me not because I feel all perfumes should have a name, but because I feel that you shouldn't have more than one nameless perfume in your line. LL has two or three.) which agains, smells luxurious.

Again, totally cute bottle. Detecting a pattern here? I want all of them.

The scents lasts for hours, which is good, because I am not in the habit of taking very expensive glass botlles of perfume along with me, and I prefer to smell good all day long, not just for two hours.

In packaging and general feel, Lolita Lempicka perfumes remind me of Jelly Pong Pong, a make-up brand, which also does the quirky, sexy, fairy-tale like thing and makes me feel like Reality doesn't really NEED to kick in all the time. I can be a princess if I choose to be, can't I? Yes. Yes I can.

Speaking of Jelly Pong Pong, I have indulged.
Well, technically, buying anything Jelly Pong Pong is indulging by definition, because they're quite expensive.
(That, by the bye, is my only criticism of this wonderful brand, which is very high quality, with very pretty and fairy-tale like packaging)
On Friday, I will receive a package from the wonderful Alice&Jo (from Alice&Jo's havesentials webshop) with some extra lip balms (I go through them like crazy!), Barry M's yellow nail polish (to match my cute new dress) and: Jelly Pong Pong!

"Goumet Lip Therapy: Real Honey": doesn't that sound like a hundred dollars? It does to me.

I am not spending any more money this month.
Well, except on books maybe. But that's it. And it's my once-a-year spree. So, you know, I'll talk myself into not feeling guilty.

I also donate to UNICEF now, so it's not completely selfish?

Oh. My. GAWD.

2009-07-06T08:55:00.004+02:00

My darlings!

I have shamefully neglected you.

In my defence: tons of stuff was going on, which I will detail to you right now, hoping you will find it in your heart to forgive me.

First of all, there were my exams.
I really went for it this time (good, because I had eight instead of the usual six and my schedule was rather... fucked-up.)
Long story short, I finally got rid of my freshman courses, which is a relief on its own. Passed 3 of my 6 second-year courses, which leaves me with 3 re-sits, which I'm actually quite satisfied with. Actually got a 14 (out of 20) for my favourite course! Woop!

Second, Ze Grand Movin'. It is done.
Finished my exams on Monday the 22nd and spent the three subsequent days painting. Alone, because The Boyfriend was working. Didn't turn out quite as good as I hoped because the previous layer of paint started peeling off. So we're doing some of it again in September, when we find the time.
On Friday and Saturday, there were two equally vexing and exciting trips to IKEA, in which - we thought - we got all of our furniture. It was only on Sunday that we realised we have no bathroom closet and all our shampoo &c stuff is now in bags until we find the time to get back on that. However, we have very pretty (and relatively inexpensive) furniture right now, and are very pleased with the spaciousness of The Apartment.

Thirdly, Ze Garden, which you knew we would have, because, well, I told you: it is quite barren. The ground is very dry and very very rock-filled, for lack of a better world. It has been decided that we should just scoop out most of the ground (including rocks) and bring in new - fertile - earth before we are able to magically make grass and flowwers appear.
I'm thinking lavender and some herbs (thyme, rosemary,...).

Speaking of which, we had some company over yesterday, which consisted of my father, stepmother, oldest stepbrother + girlfriend, my sister and youngest stepsister. I was very nervous for no good reason at all and am now very well pleased.

Dad has offered to help with the garden (two weeks from this sunday) and will then be bringing a new kitten.

Ay, a new kitten.
Typhus has been quite restless and strangely longing for affection, and we decided (me more than The Boyfriend, but he came around) that a playmate would probably be good for him.
We are still debating names, but so far, Chaos, Brein (which is Dutch for Brain) and something else, which was suggested late last night and I don't remember, are on the shortlist.

Talking of lists: I am, of course, still working on my Project Day Zero, and will update you on progress in a separate post, so as to maintain an overview.

I hope this post has a least put you all at ease that I am not, in fact, deceased and will keep on writing.

Have a nice days, everybody :)

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza: SteamCream Saves The Day!

2009-05-24T19:17:00.003+02:00

I'm very sorry for the shortness of this post. But you see, I'm too busy bathing in aftersun lotion to come up with something elaborate, so this'll have to do.

As you might've deducted, I have a terrible case of sunburn. Which is horrible. Last time I looked this red was when I fell asleep on the beach, and couldn't sleep on my back for two weeks.

It's my own fault. I got cocky. I was so convinced that I wouldn't burn, I didn't bother to find some sunscreen. Unfortunately, the tiny insignificant fact that I didn't burn because of the sunscreen apparently slipped my mind.

And now I look like this.

Well, not quite like a baby in a lobster costume. Though that costume is adorable, and if I had kids, I'd totally let them wear it to school, weddings, funerals, and other inappropriate places. No, I was just trying to make a colour-related point.

Don't worry. I'm not going to bore you to death with details of how red I really am, and how my skin changes colour when you press it, and how it'll probably all start peeling off in a couple of days. That wasn't the point. The point, darlings, is this.

Remember SteamCream?

Of course you do...

Turns out it's not only a lifesaver for those of you who are, like me, cursed with very dry skin. It's also great in case of sunburn!

I was feeling a bit hesitant to just start rubbing aftersun lotion on my face. The lotion is greasy and way too scented. You know, the feeling you get when someone hits you in the head with a bottle of perfume? That feeling. Works just fine on my body, but my face would hate me for the rest of my life, and punish me with pestilence, war, famine and death - an allergic reaction. Luckily I discovered the small sample tin of SteamCream I had left here. And it really does miracles. I'd love to use it on all my burnt spots (which is actually the entire front side of my body, with the exception of a white dress-shape), but since that sample has to last until I get home (aka: the current residence of my full-sized tin), I save it for my face.

It's incredibly soothing (even more so than my real aftersun lotion), very moisturizing, and my face already looks MUCH better than the rest of my body. The red is disappearing quite fast (leaving a lovely tan behind ^^), and my skin feels a lot less painful.

So. Don't have a tin of your own yet? Go buy one! It's creamy heaven in a tin, AND multipurpose!

Negligence!

2009-05-24T19:07:00.003+02:00

I am SO sorry for my horrible negligence of you all!

But I do have a reason!
I mentioned in my previous post the upcoming exams (only three more days o.O), which is part, but not all, of the reason why my posts have been so sparse.

I have been working on The Paper Of Death, Destruction and Devastation. (concept NOT stolen from E's previous Paper Of Doom!).

Tell me, dear reader, if you have to make a hypothesis about something, what would your first question be?
You have raw data. That's about it.
You have interpreted said data to the best of your abilities.

Now hypothesize!

You can't, can you?

WHY?

Because in order to derive a falsifiable statement from a set of data, you need a theory, a framework to look at those data.
If you don't HAVE a theory, or even a research question, how on Earth are you supposed to make a hypothesis?
Answer: you can't.

Which was my dilemma for the past five days.

But now, The Paper Of Death, Destruction and Devastation is finished. The e-version has been sent (and safely received, I dare say) and the real version will be commited to an uncaring mailbox in the morning.

Unfortunately, being so preoccucpied with said Paper, I lost track of my studying schedule and am now woefully behind, with no way to catch up. I only have two full days to study Clinical Psychodiagnostics (the psychoanalytic course, which is awesome), and so I'm... well, fucked, really.

These exams will not rest until they have sucked all the life force out of me, and so, I take leave of you, barring short posts when I find the time, until June 22rd.

(I will, however, post something every week just to make sure that E's Extra& doesn't take over my entire blog :D)

Goodnight.

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza: Fighting Mr. Stress

2009-05-17T19:29:00.003+02:00

I’m a very stressed person. It runs in the family. Not that that can be used as a real excuse, but still. It’s true. And even if it weren’t, sometimes I just feel the need to convince myself that I’m not to entirely to blame for being annoying when things get superduper-busy.

The past few months have been very busy, and the ones still to come will probably be even worse. I barely survived getting kicked out of our apartment, managing all my deadlines at once, and looking for a new place to live. Now that all those things are arranged, I have finals and the hassle of moving to look forward to. And after that: more studying.

Don’t get me wrong. I love studying, I love the anticipation of moving (the moving itself: not so much, this being my seventh time or so, and I’m getting quite sick of it), and I love having something to do when I wake up, instead of just feeling lazy and unorganized the entire day. But not all at the same time. It drives me crazy.

So yes. All that, plus my genetic predisposition (…in my mind…) equals stress. And lots of it.

Which raises questions. And lots of them. The most important one being:

“What the poo can I do to calm down?”

Because, let’s face it. I’m not a nice person to be around when I’m stressed. I’m over-emotional, I’m grumpy and I panic. Which is all made much much worse by the fact that Mr. Stress doesn’t allow me to even get near my much needed 8 hours of sleep a night. And on top of that, I get an incredibly annoying, itchy red rash on the inside of my right arm. Always. So basically I’m being a tired whiney bitch while scratching my skin open. Sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?

I’ve tried to find some nice, stress-relieving stuff-to-do. I’ve tried everything. But to my surprise, few things actually helped. Yoga makes me feel like an idiot. Which isn’t exactly the most relaxing feeling ever. Since it’s virtually impossible for me to empty my head (seriously, I just can’t do it; I’m obviously not made to have an empty head, which is not THAT bad, if you think about it), meditation is also out of order. Going for a nice, relaxing walk? No can do. It makes me feel guilty to the point that I stay up way past my bedtime (which is, by the way, much too late as it is), to make up for lost time. So what’s left? I could go for a lovely early morning run. I’ve done it, and it helps. But I always seem to find an excuse not to. The horrible Belgian weather is my current favourite.

Like this, but less umbrellas, and more icky wet jeans.

Then what do I do?

I cook. Cooking is my meditation. It’s relaxing, and the only thing where I actually manage to focus on one thing, instead of multi-tasking the hell out of it.
I drink tea. And lots of it. Tea has always made me feel safe and homey, which is exactly the kind of feeling I need. It’s like being wrapped in a nice, warm, tea-scented blanket. I have my mother to thank for that.

At night, I fall asleep with the TV on. It’s the only way to avoid the otherwise unavoidable “thinking about all the horrible things that might happen” in bed.
And I promise I’ll start my morning runs again when I get back home. I’ll even drag The Boyfriend along.

But other than that, I’m stuck. The day I run out of tea and ingredients, I’m fucked. Needless to say, I'm always looking for decent alternatives and new ideas... So tell me: what gets you through your stressful periods? Enlighten me!

Meet Blob.

2009-05-12T20:48:00.005+02:00

Today, I am happy to report, I am but two short weeks away from my first of eight (!!) finals. Well, not happy because of finals, because they make me nervous, but happy because I finally got my game face.
Only it's not a game face as much as a "go go go studying" disposition, but there's not fancy term for that, so let's call it my game face, shall we? Or Blob. We can call it my Blob. I'm cool with that.

Like this, only not slimy.

Two weeks seems very short for University level finals, especially eight of them, but believe you me, the Blob doesn't usually kick in until they've started. So this is a major breakthrough in Sadoville right here.

I am going through material from even the boring classes, which is something I've a tendency to postpone until the last minute - or, if I actually go through them beforehand, it's in bits and pieces when I just force myself.
Now, it's going good. Oh yeah.

Also, I like it.
I like getting stuff. I like reading new stuff and thinking "oh wow, this has to do with the other stuff from that other class!". Makes me feel smart.
Smart doesn't work out for me so very well now that I'm in Uni, since I lazy-bones'ed my way through high school, not actually studying once, never once getting nervous about a test or exam.
Paying attention in class has always been enough for me.
I'm not saying I'm a genius, far from it, but I've always regretted not being challenged in high school.
System in Belgium is you pick a general form of education from a limited set of choices. I did Latin-modern languages.
Which, in retrospect, wasn't very smart of me, because I'm good at languages, so I ended up correcting the English teacher. Not very challenging (though fun!). I think it's a big fault of our educational system to stress the whole "if you can handle it, take it" thing, instead of the "look, you're not going to be studying in this line of study, so why don't you pick lots of math?" thing.

Anyway, the result of all that is I arrived at Uni first year, and did absolutely nothing.
I came around now, but since I have to retake two courses from my first bachelor year, I know am behind in my second. Which automatically means I'm behind on my third. And if I don't finish THAT next year, I can't transfer any courses to the next year. Because 4th year is the 1st year of our master. And you can't mix those.
Which means that for as little as 1 tiny subject, I could get behind on my classmates for a year.
Which means I'm fucked.

You see where the nerves kick in?

But! I'm ranting again.
Point is: I finally kicked off finals-month, and it's going good.
I'm in Tah Zone, which is basically endorphins being released - the body's way of saying "Why thank you!"

Yes, I am sure this is a faithful rendition.

I may post less frequently from now until June 22nd, but at least you'll know why.
I'll try to keep up :)

Goodnight.

Stories

2009-05-11T20:38:00.004+02:00

I can't do it.
I can't just post a ranting post and disappear.
I was so pissed off I didn't even twitter about it. It is a blemish.

So here's my real post for today.

I noticed my writing has gotten somewhat more elaborate. Being a nervous little creature, this made me wonder: do I sound cocky?
Because I used to.

I re-read my old diary from when I was 15/16.
I was young, and kind of unhappy (miserable), and thought a lot of myself. As a very wise man once put it: "I am not young enough to know everything." Well, at that point, I was convinced I knew a whole lot. I was a melodramatic whino, really.

Meet 16-ish-year-old Sado, not yet using that name (which, by the way, is an inside joke and doesn't mean I'm into hardcore BDSM), all goffik and "intellectual".
I could show you a picture... but I won't.

I'm torn between laughing and crying when I re-read those pretentious, long drawn sentences. I re-read them occasionally, a page at a time because that's all I have the balls for.

My point here (yes, I have one! Don't look at me like that!) is that sometimes - actually, more often than not - we look back on our smug old selves and are embarrassed. I still haven't written any poetry since that time.
(I was told it was good.
E, The Cousin and I were in constant disagreement over whose was better.)

That feeling of embarrassment for the smug sentences of my 16-year-old self make me wonder: will I be embarrassed likewise, when as a 25- or a 30-year-old I look back on my writing of today? I think I will. Is that a bad thing? I'm not sure. I mean, it does indicate growth, doesn't it? Even if just a little. Nevertheless, it's not a fun feeling, mostly because suddenly, you're convinced that at the time, everybody was laughing at you behind your back.
Which triggers the paranoid idea that people are laughing at you behind your back now, when you think you're not so ridiculous anymore.

Or is that just me?

I should just let go.
This blog is one of the first things I've written in about 3 years. No more poetry (even though I can assure you it was all teenage angst), no more stories, no more novels.
I think about writing sometimes, but I'm not sure I have a good story to tell.
The only story I do have is my own, and I'm not always sure how to look upon it. Furthermore, will people want to hear it? Will they want to take time to read about it?

Vanilla Tea was made as a try-out, to see if I still got it. The magical, metaphorical it. And more to the point, if I did, whether or not I could keep up with it.

I think my 30-something-th post proves that I'm alright for continuance. It's a habit now, which is good.
Can I deal with a story? Do I tell my own, and if so, how and in what light? Do I tell someone else's? Isn't that stealing?
I read a lot, but can I write?

And more importantly: If I write something, will I be ashamed of it later on?

Just asking questions is all.

Sweet dreams, loves.

When shall I cease with wondering...

2009-05-11T18:05:00.005+02:00

In line with my general theory that you have to do some things to get others, also known as 'tit for that', today I offer you an inspiring tale of sacrifice and endurance.

I have withstood, this very day, an epic journey, in order to graduate.

The situation was as follows: in the first (bachelor) year of our wonderful education (clinical psychology being my chosen field) we are to be used as guinea pigs. You heard me. Guinea pigs.
Professors claim this is because we would, through our own experience, learn what it is like to participate in such experiments as are commonplace in our field. I say: they just need people to enter these things and nobody in their right mind would do some of them.
Now, being in my second year BUT having been so stupid as to fail one of the classes that goes with these experiments, I was forced to re-enter 3 this semester.

My first was relatively fun. It was basically a large formal logics test, which I like and am good in.
The second was boring as fuck.

The third was today.

The experiment went as follows:

I sat, for over an hour, on a chair facing a computer in the left corner of a classroom. Facing the wall. Charming.
Experiment leader (young, perky, kind of pretty) ignored me for most of that hour+, never once offering me some water or even elaborate explanations.
It is common decency to apologize for constructing an experiment as boring as this, but she didn't.

The experimental task was this:
A colored geometrical shape is shown on the screen. Participant is to name it. Every now and then, a shape will change either color or shape during session, in which case you are to cease naming it, possibly mid-word.

That's basically it.
15 minutes per phase, 4 phases long, I went "yellow square. Red cone. Purple disc. Green circle. Orange triangle."
Occasionally: "Ora-. Green ci-."

They didn't even look fancy, like this.

The extent of excitement of my day.

Experimenter left the room twice, both times for almost ten minutes (as far as I can tell).

Moral of the story: I have had a very boring day, and an even more boring afternoon, and I want to rant about it.

I learned nothing from participating in these stupid things, and I hate that we are on every occasion used as free lab rats, not even owed an apology for taking up our valuable time with such nonsense.

Tomorrow I will be back, hopefully with something a little more interesting to offer.

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza: Hot Fuzz

2009-05-10T18:43:00.006+02:00

As I was pondering kittens, and thinking the whole 'Spreading the sunshine' thing through, I asked myself: "What makes me really happy when I'm having a bad day? Maybe I can share it with the world!"

I'm ashamed to admit that it wasn't my boyfriend, friends or any other socially acceptable answer. The first thing that popped into my head was this...

Possibly one of the best movies ever.

So share it I will, even if it kills me! (Which it probably won't, by the way.)

"Nicholas Angel, an extremely dedicated police officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service, performs his duties so well that he is accused of making his colleagues look bad. As a result, his superiors transfer him to the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford in rural Gloucestershire."

Reasons it makes me happy:

- An intelligent action-movie parody, which doesn't drift into the area of obvious, stupid and horribly unfunny jokes (yes, I'm looking at you, Scary Movie!)? In this day and age? It's more rare than you think.

- This is the kind of movie you can watch over and over again, and still find new funnies.

- According to the narrator, 'Police Constable Nicholas Angel (...) graduated Canterbury University in 1993 with a double first in Politics and Sociology.' Way to make me root for the protagonist!

- I have a slight crush on Simon Pegg.

I mean, just look at him! He's adorable!

- Awesome, over-the-top movie posters which always make me giggle like a schoolgirl

- Awesome, over-the-top ending, which makes me giggle even more.

- The wonderful conversations.

"Where's the trolley boy?"

"In the freezer."

"Did you say 'cool off?'"

"No I didn't say anything..."

"Shame."

"Well, there was the bit that you missed where I distracted him with the cuddly monkey,

and then I said "play time's over" and I hit him in the head with the peace lily."

Or my favourite:

"You do know there are more guns in the country than there are in the city."

"Everyone and their mums is packin' round here!"

"Like who?"

"Farmers."

"Who else?"

"Farmers' mums."

(keep an eye out for that farmer's mum, she's in there!)

So yes. Run to your nearest DVD-selling-or-renting place, and watch it! Believe me, you won't be sorry ^^

Picture Day I: Kittens For All!

2009-05-08T19:08:00.005+02:00

As you know, despite my occasionally wandering into melancholy, my blog is mostly about sharing the things I love and appreciate. Sort of a "share the sunshine" project.

I rant IRL. A lot. I probably have this brain connection that makes me verbally deal with things instead of just thinking them over, or dismissing them out of hand.
However, I decided not to take that to this blog. I'm a big (theoretical, sometimes) fan of the "Spreading the sunshine" concept, and so that was what I had in mind for the blog.

Unfortunately that sometimes gives me writer's block - like when I've had a bad day, or I feel like killing my landlord (hint: today! today!) or when I've been studying all the time, except when I was listening to other people talking about their problems (also today). Then I'm not sure how to spread the sunshine, because I can't think of anything.

However!
I will spread the sunshine even if it kill me! Semper fi, or whatever fits into this situation. Probably not semper fi, but yeah. You get my drift.

Today is Quotes And Pictures day.
Meaning: I will not write anything, just post pictures and happy, sunshiny quotes. Which you will get to comment on, of course.
This will be repeated rather frequently as my finals keep creeping closer and closer like a horde of very slow, determined zombies. Don't worry, I'll still write.

Anyway.

KITTIES!

Dead Like Me

2009-05-07T22:31:00.006+02:00

So, as I mentioned yesterday, in a completely non-non-sequitor move into my words-obsession, I have found a new show.
Actually, it's not that new since I've seen it described in several places as a "cult hit" but nevertheless.

My Dear Friend Maria tells me that Pushing Daisies, my all-time favourite, is in fact, sort of a spin of of Dead Like Me. In one of the episodes, Roxy's reap doesn't show up, and apparently that is because Ned has been soul-recollecting.
But, you know, it doesn't really make sense, so IMO it's more of a "hey, I like this project, let's do another one vaguely related to it, only brighter and happier!" Which, ya know, I'm grateful for.

The Story:
Georgia "George" Lass is an 18-year-old who has zero interest in almost everything. She doesn't know what to do with her life, and is pretty lethargic overall. She dropped out of college and is on her first ever lunchbreak when she gets hit by a toilet seat, fallen from the de-orbiting MIR space station.
This earns her the nickname "Toilet-Seat Girl" which is funny.
What's not so funny: she's dead.
But not really. George, being the last soul collected by a grim reaper, has to take his place, collecting souls from the dead in the "External Influence" department, along with her merry fellow grim reapers.
Drama, tragedy and hilarity ensue.

Parts I like:
The funny deaths.

"My name's Daisy. Daisy Adair."

Basically all the characters but George. She's not too bad, but not very charming in any way. She improves on acquaintance though.
Reggie, George's kid sister.

Parts I don't like as much:
The tragic deaths. Little girls dying: not funny. Especially when they give those stupid humanizing details about them. "I like Donald Duck." Great, now I'll be thinking of that for a while.
I hate kids dying.

Overall:
I love the show. I expected something happy and shiny, but that's not this.
I mean sure, Pushing Daisies has its tragic sad bits (the aunts - not so funny. The crippling social anxiety? Not funny.), but overall it's just so happy and it cheers me right up.
Dead Like Me is the other side of that coin. It has its funny bits, but overall it's kind of sad in a beautiful, philosophical kind of way. It's a celebration of life, really, but still, it's not the woop! woop! I'm used to.
I still watched both seasons in a few days.

9/10!

Words, words, words

2009-05-06T20:19:00.006+02:00

Last weekend, when we were at the movie rental place, The Boy and I noticed a show that Dear Maria had recommended, as being sort of "related" to Pushing Daisies. I speak, indeed, of Dead Like Me, which is about grim reapers. The deaths are funny. Otherwise, pretty tragic show.

Yes, we can see the difference here.

So I bought them. Yes, I am very hedonistic, thanks!

Anyway, in the first episode, female lead George (awesome name for a girl, by the bye, I want a male-sounding nickname now) introduces her family. Her mother Joy is described, among other things, as hating the word "moist" because she thinks it's pornographic.

She does look like someone who hates the word "moist".

That got me thinking about words.

You know how some words sound exactly like what they mean? Like "stern" and "rigorous" and "moist". I like "moist" now. I like those words in general.

I hate the word "umbrella". It doesn't make any sense to me. In Dutch, it's paraplu, from the French parapluie, which means "against rain". Makes sense, doesn't it? Well, "umbrella" doesn't. So I hate the word.

I like words with "graphic". I think they sound nice. Even "pornographic" sounds nice.
I like "initial". It sounds better than first.

I have the tendency to overuse words. To counteract this (I like counteract!) I tried overusing big words. You know, the kind that you don't normally use in an ordinary (woop!) conversation.

Is that counter-intuitive?

Before I regress into a child-like state (who am I kidding anyway?) - what are your favourite words?

Goodnight, and sweet dreams.

Orchid leg piece. HELP.

2009-05-05T22:30:00.006+02:00

Alright. So here's the deal.

I've been wanting a big leg piece for a long time now,, and I have 'always' been pretty straight-forward about what I wanted. In general.
Orchids.
A branch of orchids, going all the way from my ankle to my thigh.

Things is, there's LOTS of orchids.
So I'm having a teensy weensy bit of trouble deciding here.

Now, my process is that I ask people for their opinion, and then dismiss it for a variety of reasons, which makes it much clearer to ME what it is that I prefer.

So basically I need you guys to bounce ideas off of.

It doesn't seem like a very glamorous job, but it is, really. I promise. (in my mind)

Contestant number 1:

is a pretty bright red thing, very simple, yet elegant.
I'm not much for simple or elegant, I don't think I am, or anything is, and it's not MY typical orchid, but it struck my eye nonetheless.

Contestant number 2:

is The Boy's favourite, for being pure, and simple, and elegant.
Which put me off of these a bit, but then, for a slightly-colored mostly B/W piece, this may be the way to go.

Contestant number 3:

is a little more up my original alley. Frayed, withered-looking, yet positively beautiful.
I'm a little worried about how it'll be black and white with only a hint of ONE color, and I'm not sure that that's going to work for this flower. Help me out here.

Contestant number 4:

is wonderful. Just wonderful. I like 'em this way, and I like the way the leaves curve and everything, but I'm not getting anything YELLOW tattooed on me. So I'd have to pick another color, and isn't that orchid-murder? Thought-crimes and all that jazz? Plus - maybe simple and elegant is better - for something you have to look at every day for the rest of your life.
But man, I love it.

Sooooooo... tell me what you think, and I will get back to you all.
Karma will reward you for being such awesome people.

Goodnight, and sleep tight!

Vanilla goes Day Zero Project!

2009-05-05T17:55:00.000+02:00

Alrighty then folks, you've been reading about Day Zero Project at E's Extraordinary Eloquent Extravaganza, and today, you get to read my freshly made list! woop!
I am starting today, Tuesday 5th of May 2009.
The Project ends at Tuesday, 31st of January 2012.
I will report on my progress at the beginning of every new month.
Let's get started, shall we?

EDUCATION

001. Earn my bachelor's degree in 2010. Then smoothly move on to the Master's and complete that in the appropriate time too.
002. Learn to speak Japanese. Do this by taking University classes.
003. Start studying at least a month in advance of finals. EVERY time, not just once.
004. Finally start earning merits. I would so love to do a PhD.
005. Impress favourite professor(s) with smart remarks during class.
006. Strike up an intelligent conversation with a professor at least once.
007. If have year extra for study due to stupid system, take interesting relevant classes to boost resumé.
008. Work for school every day except weekends and holidays.

SELF-IMPROVEMENT/ALTRUISTIC

009. Write a letter to myself when I'm 40 about my long-term goals in life. Learn from it.
010. Be a mentor about something to any younger person.
011. Donate blood at a point where I didn't get tattooed/pierced for six months.
012. Fill out paperwok to donate my body to science after I die.
013. Ride a roller coaster, so as to learn not to be afraid of new things.
014. Stop picking at my lips so I can wear lipstick.
015. Work on my self-esteem re: appearance.
016. Protest for or against something.
017. Stop using the sad "sick" voice completely.
018. Get up at 8 every day for a month (except Sundays).
019. Make a memento-related scrapbook about the good things in life - not be such a pessimist.

CULTURE/IMPROVING MIND

020. Get a short story published.
021. Maintain my blog.
022. Get a hobby that doesn't involve watching TV/DVD's or reading.
023. Complete NaNoWriMo at least once.
024. Participate every year.
025. Finish the Dune series - including the parts he didn't write himself.
026. Go to the theatre at least twice.
027. Make at least one sculpture.
028. Go to FACTS at least one of the two days every year.
029. Go to lectures that aren't class-related.
030. Maintain my French. Do this by reading a lot and trying to have conversations in it more often.
031. Learn to speak Japanese. Do this by taking University classes.
032. See Stef Bos in concert.
033. Write a short story.
034. Buy at least two books every month.
035. Save up for a trip to Japan after my studies.
036. Read 100 new books.
037. Read Sandman.
038. Read the non-fictional works of at least 4 geniuses.
039. Learn awesome quotes from novels by heart so I can reference them correctly.
040. Write a letter to Richard Dawkins. Aim for a response.

MISC.

041. Learn to play poker.
042. Sing at Cabaret Gothique. No chickening-out!
043. Go horse-back riding one more time.
044. Finally wear that D&G dress.
045. Do another photoshoot.
046. Learn to walk properly and for long periods of time in heels.
047. Lend a book from the library, write commentary on a card and return it with the card inside.
048. Wear a dress or skirt every day for a week. NO PANTS. (0/7)
049. Do a movie marathon.
050. Do an Eddie Izzard marathon.
051. Finally get a collar for the kitty. Succeed in putting it ON the kitty.

JUST FOR ME
052. Find cute sexy-librarian-type glasses even though I don't need them.
053. Buy one awesome, yet expensive bottle of perfume.
054. Go on a vacation that's longer than 2 days.
055. Finish my tattoo projects. (DNA, cogs, orchids.)
056. Dye my hair in a crazy color at least once before I have to give it up to the boring professioinal appearance.
057. Fix my rhythm-issues by learning how to dance so I'm not embarassed at parties anymore.
058. Find a ring exactly like the one my grandparents gave me for my 14th (? maybe 13th) birthday.
059. Find a nice summer job, not one where I want to kill myself daily.
060. Get a really wonderful tea set.
061. Take one long bath a month, for rewarding self. Light candles.
062. Get an alarm clock where you can program any CD to wake you, not some stupid cellphone tune.
063. Decide on a variety of orchid for my leg piece. (help me out later!)

SOCIAL/RELATIONSHIP

064. Get in touch with Dad again.
065. Take my sister out partying.
066. Visit my brother's new apartment.
067. Have a tea party with E. at least once a week, except during exams or when either of us is out of the country.
068. Write someone a letter.
069. Burn good CD's for the people I love most. Do not need reason.
070. Maintain good healthy relationship with The Boy.
071. Have a BBQ in our new garden at least once every summer. Invite a lot of friends for it.
072. Invite my mom and her partner over for dinner.
073. Get closer to my kid sister.
074. Make friends in international intellectual circles, in order to learn and make connections for future work life.
075. Go on a romantic weekend at least twice.
076. Appear in sexy lingerie more often. Not in public though.
077. Eat fish at least 20 times, even though Boy does not like it.
078. Throw a huge party for my 20th birthday.
079. Go out more with friends from school.
080. Surprise others with little gifts more often.
081. Buy kitty a toy he likes.

HOME/ORGANISING/MONEY

082. Grow something in my new garden.
083. Paint my new appartment just the way I want it.
084. Buy an oven to bake cookies in.
085. Make a collage of pictures of my loved ones. Hang it on the wall.
086. Put up motivatinal Post-its for myself around the house.
087. Clean out my closet. No worn for at least a year => out it goes.
088. Find a good organising system for my book closet.
089. Get a plant for inside the house, and this time, don't let it die.
090. Clean the whole apartment on a regular basis.
091. Try a new recipe at least once a month.
092. Buy a proper domain for the blog in case it ever gets to be huge.

HEALTH
093. Quit smoking. NO REALLY.
094. Eat fruit every day for a month.
095. Take up cooking real food instead of buying ready-made stuff.
096. Walk more often, especially short distances - no need for buses.
097. Go to class by bike when it's not freezing cold or raining.
098. Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a month.
099. Find a way to excercise that isn't sex or running to catch the bus.
100. Go to the dentist.

LIST-RELATED

101. Review tasks completed and start a new list.

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza: Day Zero Project

2009-05-04T20:52:00.004+02:00

To me, people aren’t just who they are in a certain place and time. People are processes of change. There’s nothing more interesting than seeing people constantly evolve, preferably in a positive way. Needless to say, I’m also a huge fan of the whole “Personal Development” thing. If you know change is inevitable, why not give it a push in the right direction? It can only make you a happier person. Not to mention that great feeling of satisfaction when you actually notice that positive change.

Now, the problem with the whole ‘improvement’-area: it’s surrounded by creeps.

This is Steve Pavlina, “one of the most successful personal development bloggers on the Internet”. Or so he says on his site. Apparently, modesty isn’t one of his greatest achievements. Also, his creepy smile has haunted my nightmares on several occasions.

People (like dear Steve, here) who like to call themselves personal developers, motivational speakers, or, God forbid, self help guru’s (I think I just puked a little), terrify me. Is it the way they all try to look so smooth and successful, like the American Dream come alive? Or maybe it’s the fact that I don’t want my personal improvement, with all its silly-habits-to-get-rid-of and stupid-things-I’d-like-to-do, to depend on complete strangers I will probably never even meet. Probably both.

Needless to say, I prefer to go solo. But unfortunately, just saying “Today, I will quit every bad habit I ever had, and replace them all with awesome ones which will eventually make me a better person” doesn’t quite work for me. Somehow, I always end up with an “Ah, fuck it!” feeling, and just quit. But now, hopefully (fingers crossed!) I might’ve found something that works... (dah dah dah daaaaah) The Day Zero Project

Dayzeroproject.com – join the fun!

The whole point of Day Zero is to complete a list of 101 specific, realistic tasks in a period of 1001 days. I made my list (which was much harder to make than I expected, by the way, and took a whole evening) and organized it into several categories: Organizational & Financial (including everything about planning my days and money, obviously); Brain, Eyes & Ears (everything regarding reading, writing, studying and watching things); Food & Health; Appearance (it’s important enough to get its own category. I’m that vain.); Love & Friendship; Personal Improvement (I know, that’s what it’s all about, but this is just me being selfish and wanting an entire category to myself); and my favourite of all: Random.

Now, I wouldn’t say there are a lot of deep things on my list. Because honestly, there aren’t. It mostly consists of good habits I wish I had, and things I still want to do but never found a good reason/enough time/… to actually get off my lazy butt and just do it. But I’m hoping that completing my list will at least give me some new experiences, and hopefully make me a better person.

Picnic fun times ahead!

2009-05-02T00:48:00.005+02:00

First of all, I do apologize for being rather sparse with my posts lately. However, exams start in less than four weeks, I still have a paper to write (and nobody has any idea if the data are even correct and what exactly we're supposed to write) and oh, I have to participate in several experiments. Also, 8 exams instead of the usual 6.
Oh, also: the apartment papers are still not quite done yet, and I still have to find a job for the holidays.
So I hope you'll understand I'm rather busy.

Nevertheless, even I take time away from studying (and spending time with The Boy, which engrosses pretty much my entire weekend) to join in on the Oost-Vlaanderen picnic, tomorrow!
Oost-Vlaanderen, as some of you will know, is my VF cult, which consists mostly of my IRL friends, and some other people we met there and who are now IRL friends. So meeting time!

Now, what I'm still hoping for is something like this:

Of course, we're not about dressing up and being fancy (do I do love that every once in a while) but about fun times. Which is hard with corsets and parasols &c.
So the real deal will likely go something like this:

Combined with lots of booze. Well, for most of them, anyway.
And brownies, of course. E's going to be there, so the brownies are pretty much a given.

Last week, there was a comedy meeting at my friend's place, and my boots were kind of heavy (get the reference?) so I broke my good habit of hardly ever drinking and got drunk for the third time in my life.
Which was not as fun as I'd hoped, and instead of forgetting about all the hassle, I - as I but vaguely remember - started crying to one of my friends. Fun times.
So no booze now. I'm okay, but not okay enough to be a fun drunk. Which, frankly, is not something I aspire too anyway, so no big loss there.

I'll be especially happy to see E. again, because between her apartment hunting (she found a friggin' house) and mine, her exams and mine, we've hardly seen each other at all these past few weeks.

Anyway, I might or might not be back tomorrow with a detailed report, but either way, you'll have E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza coming your way on Sunday!

Enjoy the weekend!

Feelgood: my favourite heroines.

2009-04-29T17:32:00.007+02:00

Racking my brains for something to write about other than "oh my gawd I'm just so stressed!", I decided to turn once more to the multifaceted face of the love of my life: awesome women in awesome books.
Sometimes they're awesome because they're empowered, sometimes they're just the only ones who actually think straight in the entire novel, sometimes they're so sad that you just want to hug them over and over... and over.

Who's first?
The most loveable heroine ever to be put on paper?
Why, it's Elizabeth Bennet, obviously. I mean, Jane Austen said so.
In that sex-starved, hypocritical society, where all that mattered was how many "pounds a year" you had to your name and whether or not you knew important people, Elizabeth warmed our hearts by not giving a damn.
She was witty, pretty, smart and didn't really care whether or not the rich people liked her.
She had flaws too, and by that, I don't mean the let's-think-of-a-flaw-that's-actually-loveable that is the hallmark of the Mary Sue, but actually flaws - like a human being.

She also made the best speech in the history of ever:

"From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed upon to marry."
(at which point in the movie I'm always high-fiving the air around me, yelling "you go sister!")

(and she knows it!)

Look, I know it's cool to like the more accurate and longer BBC-version more, but let's all at least agree that Keira Knightley is by far the better Elizabeth, shall we?
The BBC actress never convinced me. Too soft and humourless. Elizabeth was a well-meaning force of nature, but in a cute way.

Who else, then?
Since the novel was a big hit (mostly in the US, I think, but still - it sold well here) I'll just assume most of you have at least heard of The Crimson Petal And The White, Michel Faber's much acclaimed magnum opus. Also, one of my favourite books ever.
It's huge, it's fresh, it absorbes you (if you let it, but you must, you absolutely must!) and in the end, 900+ pages don't seem like enough and you spend weeks devising outcomes for the - oops, but I'm being a spoiler-spoil here!
No, I'm not telling. I'll just say that it's wonderful in that it contains a lot of elements commenly found in Victorian novels (the captain of industry, his mistress, a mad wife,..) but it's viewed in a very modern, 21st-century like light, which makes you not only enjoy the whole thing more, but also look upon other novels (say... Jane Eyre?) in a different way.

The heroine of the day (year? decade? ever?) is Sugar, a prostitute with a nasty skin condition who is goddamn smart and kind of bitchy, in that she uses her lazy bum costumer William to get out of the gutter and up into the higher circles. Under her influence, William and his perfume "empire" both grow amazingly, and - yep, spoilers again.

I love Sugar because she's so damn human. She's damaged goods, granted, Victorian whores usually weren't the most confident and all's-fine-here people, but she's so determined not to stay in that situation that you have to love her for it.
I both hope and fear that they're making it into a film soon - hope because hey, the more Sugar the better - fear because they have the tendency to screw things up.
Okay, sure, the book is always better than the movie, so I don't expect EVERYTHING, but my heroines! My favourite characters, ALL WRONG!
All wrong I say!

Keira Knightley's Elizabeth is one huge exception, of course, but how can I trust them with my lovelies?
My babies, my carebears?
A: I CAN'T.

For our third heroine, I find myself in a little predicament.
I cannot tell you about the awesomeness of Isserley (of Michel Faber's Under The Skin). I cannot possibly divulge more information than this: she is female, and she is so tragic that it hurts.
It makes me want to hug her. For forever.
If Isserley were here, I would not be typing this as I would be too busy hugging her. So there's something to be thankful for, I guess.

I believe I have urged you before, but I shall do it again, as I say: Please Read Under The Skin. I promise you most heartily and sincerely you will not regret it.

That's it for now. I must return to my non-life which is filled to the brim with very unproductive stress - but I am nevertheless happy to inform you that the latest hiccup in the road to Our Own Apartment has been overcome, and only the actual signing remains.

And with that, I leave you.
Good night.

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza: Brownies!

2009-04-26T18:26:00.004+02:00

Gather ‘round, children, and I will tell you all a heroic tale about brownies…

Brownies. They’re ~~orgasmic~~ quite delicious.

I’ve had a love-hate-relationship with brownies for a long, long time. My first (and, until recently, only) try at brownies turned out… Not so good. I’m still not sure what happened, but my batter was almost brick-like. Horribly solid. I got blisters on my hands from trying to stir it, ruined several kitchen-appliances (well, one whisk, actually), and when all ingredients were finally in, I could’ve just cut the whole thing in squares without baking, and no one would’ve noticed the difference. It’s not that they were horrible, far from that. They were quite edible (although the brick-like quality continued in your stomach, and you’d probably get sick if you ate more than one piece. Not that anyone took that risk, though), but the whole painful, tiring, blistering process wasn’t quite how I imagined my first brownie-baking experience.

I imagined it to be more like this. More smiles, less pain.

But then I got a birthday present.

“500 Cookies. The Only Cookie Compendium You’ll Ever Need.”

Apparently, my love for recipes is well known. So is my love for cookies.

Needless to say, I wanted to try a recipe. And because everyone likes brownies (and more importantly: because this time, I wasn’t alone, and therefore had moral support and 6 extra hands to stir), we made brownies. This time, there were no blisters, no tears dripping into the bowl, no urge to throw the whole thing against the wall. Only smiles, giggles and staring at the oven in anticipation. Which is really what baking brownies should be all about…

The recipe:
(slightly adapted from the book mentioned above)

- 115g butter

- 220g pure chocolate

- 200g brown sugar

- A pinch of salt

- 1 teaspoon vanilla-extract, or 1 pack of vanilla sugar

- 2 eggs

- 40g flour

- 150g chopped nuts (whichever ones you prefer)

Preheat the oven to 160°C, and line a square pan with baking parchment (or just line the pan with butter or something. I prefer baking parchment, it’s easier)

Melt the butter and the chocolate. Au bain marie would be awesome, but don’t worry: it won’t explode if you just decide to microwave it. Stir, and add sugar, salt and vanilla(sugar). Add the eggs (one by one), flour, and half of the chopped nuts.

Pour the batter in the pan, sprinkle with the rest of the nuts, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Now, you’re faced with a very difficult choice.
1. Do as the book says and let it cool for 20 minutes; it will be nowhere near solid or brownie-like, so you take a bowl and a spoon, and enjoy some delicious, warm brownie-pudding.
2. Put it in the fridge, and let it cool overnight; cut in squares, and enjoy some delicious, cold brownie-fudge.

Can you get regular brownie-brownies from this recipe? I have no idea. And honestly, I don’t care. Both option 1 and 2 are a wonderful dessert (option 2 is more brownie-like, though).

Unfortunately, no pictures. But obviously, they looked like brownies; just use your imagination.

Count your blessings & make some wishes!

2009-04-24T10:52:00.007+02:00

Much as I like the general idea that we should be pleased with who we are - because of how in the end, self-esteem is more important than any other quality in my humble opinion - I still feel a little self-censure is good, on occasion.
It's what defines us, even more than our self-image.
Who we want to be is a huge part of who we actually are and how we look upon ourselves and others. That's also why I like reading about people's inspirations, they often tell you a lot about the person.

That is why, today, I am going to do two things:
I will count my blessings: with what aspects of myself am I most pleased? (can be very shallow, can include situations, can include characteristics)
and
I will make some wishes: what would I like to change - what do I aspire to? (can, likewise, include everything from material objects you want, a change of situation that would please you, characteristics you'd like to have)

Now, to make this more interesting, I would ask you all to do the same. Here in my comments section, or on your own blog - I like spreading the virus.

So so so...

1. I AM PLEASED WITH:

Shallow and materialistic:
I'll just come out and say it.
I love my skin.
It's soft and pretty and pretty much unblemished. I love taking care of it, and this - sadly, considering all the other good reasons - one of the reasons I want to quit smoking. I've got a good thing going here, and I'm kind of ruining it.
(on a sidenote: I hate the vaseline I need to take care of my tattoo with! It made the skin of my shoulder have a break-out the size of Chuck Norris' balls. Jesus.)

Pictured: Chuck Norris' balls.

I'm pleased that, though by no means rich, I can afford to spoil myself every once in a while. Like summer shoes, skin care products, some make-up, a cute shirt. In moderation, which makes it all the more fun.

Situation-wise:
I am pleased, usually, with the fact that I no longer live with my parents. Independence is a huge deal for me, and I think I'm reasonably good at it.

I adore the fact that I have a steady relationship. The Boy changed the way I look at the world (not meaning to sound sentimental) and I'm excessively pleased that we're moving in together in two months.

Without my trusted sidekick E., life wouldn't be the same. I've known her since fourth grade (when I started art academy on Saturday mornings) and we've been pretty much inseperable since then.
She now lives around the corner from my place, but as we're both moving, I'm afraid we'll see somewhat less of each other. I hope not.

I am very happy that (some of) my family is so very supportive of what I do, and I feel this as a huge blessing every single day.

Characteristics:
This is a doozy, as I don't mean to sound posh or arrogant. It's hard to define oneself exactly since we change so much depending on the situation, the people you're with, how you feel, but here goes:

I like that I'm there for my friends. A mild helping-complex, maybe? I feel good when people tell me about their troubles and I can offer them some advice or just listen. Seriously, it's endorfine-fest inside my head.

I like that I work well under pressure. Not so much that I have trouble working AT ALL without pressure.

I like spreading the sunshine. Smiling at a strange person on the street makes me feel good (unless they frown at me in return, which makes me feel disappointed).

There, so much for the bragging and counting of blessings.

2. WHAT DO I WANT TO CHANGE / ASPIRE TO?

Shallow and materialistic:

Well, first of all, not having to worry about money, ever, would be awesome. So financial security for me please!

Otherwise I must say there's not a whole lot I want in this area that I can't buy or get myself. I can buy new shoes if I want them, ya know. Nope, nothing shallow to ask for. ~~(maybe a second tin of SteamCream)~~

Or, wait - not sure whether to list this as shallow or as characteristic, but I do want to quit smoking. Last time I tried I got into a hysterical crying fit and it took me two hours to calm down enough to go buy a new pack. So yeah. To quit smoking without feeling like all joy has been violently ripped from my very soul would be nice.

Situation-wise:

Let's see. Well, as I mentioned before, I would like to, eventually, get back on speaking terms with my dad, whom I haven't spoken to in 2 years.

I am in a great relationship, and don't want to see anything ruin that, and since that's not something that's entirely up to me, I guess that's something to wish for as well.

I have some awesome friends, but I feel like we don't see eachother enough. So, in the future, I'd like to fix that up a bit. Unfortunately, most of us still being in college makes that kind of hard, especially during exam periods &c.

Characterists/long-term goals:

I would love to get some more self-discipline.
I am smart. Don't mean to brag, but I am. I got through high school without ever having to worry about grades, and for the most part without studying. So now that I'm in University, things kind of changed.
In the sense that I now HAVE to try. Except I don't.
And I still pass most of my exams. I only had to retake two courses out of the twelve last year, and last semester, I passed everything. But I would feel a lot more comfortable if I started earlier and would be more satisfied with what I do.
So yes, getting myself to start studying earlier in the year would be something I'm working on.

I'd like to get a doctor's degree - but I know that's hardly possible. Your grades have to be top of the bill for that, and mine are just so-so. I get so frustrated with myself because I know I need good grades for both a doctor's degree and being reasonably secure of a job in a profession where there's way more people who want a job than there are jobs to be had. Luckily, I can still remedy, since you're final grade is compiled of all the grades in every year, but later years count for more than the first ones.

Okay, this is kind of a secret, because it sounds very lame and generic, as I am perfectly aware, but...
I want to write a novel.
There, I said it!
I did write one, when I was 13 or 14 years old, but that got rejected - publisher's note said that the style was very good, but my subject matter wanted maturity. Which, in retrospect, I heartily agree with, to the point of refusing to tell you what it was about.
I never finished any long story after that. I wrote a few short ones, mostly for school purposes, but I never actually finished another novel. That's part of the reason why I wanted to start blogging - I haven't really written anything in a long time, and I thought it might be good to "work out", as it were. So yeah. You're reading a very long work-out. Congratulations!

Lastly, I want to read more, and more diverse things.
I do everything in phases, which is fun on one hand because I get to focus on something in a more profound way, often to the point of obession. But it also means that other - proabably interesting - things get neglected altogether.
More specifically, I want to read some more non-fiction about my working area.

So, that's about all I can think of now.
What are your strenghts and weaknesses? What do you like, and what would you like to see different?

Tell me here, or feel free to write about it on your own blog.

Good night!

Join the LULZ.

2009-04-23T21:17:00.004+02:00

Ironically, it's my temporary writer's block that got me thinking about this.
I just tweeted: "Writer's block II: Sie sind zurück, und diese mal haben sie Machinegewehre" - an Alex Agnew reference (Flemish comedian, he's AWESOME). So I got thinking: hey, why don't I share my lulz with you?

I'll keep to English lulz, because well, not much point in referencing awesome Alex Agnew gags if nobody but my IRL acquaintance actually gets the joke.

So... what made me laugh?

First of all, there's Growing Up Cullen, a hilarious feat of ~~roflmao hilarity~~ jolliness, as created by Livejournal's saint-renegade and oxymoronassoc.
It's a parody of the Twilight saga, based on the premise that Edward was, for almost a century, a 40-year-old mother on a bad day.

In order, I link to you:

1. I like how we turned Edward into a 40-year-old mother on a bad day.
Sado's favourite part:

DON'T STOP ME!! I ALMOST LOST CONTROL!!!!
SHE SMELLED DELICIOUS. LIKE BACON.

2. Yes, I am doing that "emo bullshit", I can feel if I want to!
Sado's favourite part: (trying to convince Rosalie to punish Emmett by sexual abstinence)

DO NOT ALLOW HIM TO TOUCH YOU FOR A WEEK, HE NEEDS TO LEARN A LESSON
NO I DO NOT THINK SPANKINGS ARE APPROPRIATE AT HIS AGE.

3. Stop twirling the pool sticks, they are not toys! You do not grow back eyes, Emmett!
Sado's favourite part: (Emmett talking to Rosalie, making fun of the baby's name: Renesmee)

WE ARE NAMING OUR KID EMMETTALIE IF WE EVER GET ONE. YOU KNOW BUY ONE FROM CHINA LIKE ANGIE, IF YOU WANT, SWEETIE.
BOY OR GIRL, THAT'S IT'S NAME. IT'LL KICK THIS KIDS ASS
THE MIDDLE NAME IS GOING TO BE BASEBALL, THOUGH. DOES THAT WORK FOR YOU, HON?

4. I feel totally validated that Growing Up Cullen is canon thanks to the Midnight Sun leak.
Sado's favourite part: (Edward in South-America, lamenting the loss of his love, Bella)

MY HEART WEEPS WITH DESPAIR
OR IT WOULD
IF I BUT HAD ONE

5. Christmas with the Cullens.
Sado's favourite part: (Alice reading palms and telling everyone what they want to hear)

EMMETT, YOU WILL KICK ASS THIS YEAR
FUCK YEAH, BABE, DID YOU HEAR THAT? I AM GONNA KICK SOME ASS.
EDWARD, YOU WILL FINALLY FINISH THAT NOVEL AND EMMETT WILL BECOME MORE CULTURED

So... what else?

I'm going to stay in the twilight area and say that Cleolinda's excellent chapter-by-chapter summaries + remarks as she read the books make me hoot with laughter, and occasionally, my belly even hurt from laughing too much. Which is a big compliment, not a complaint.
Read them [here].

And now for webcomics.

I am a faithful reader of several comics. In fact, one of the first things I do in the morning is start up my computer, light up a ciggie and get my daily laughter fix.

My favourites: (in no particular order):

Questionable Content

Girls With Slingshots, a comic which contain absolutely no slingshots.

Red String, which is not for lulz, but for the story.

The Perry Bible Fellowship

Wondermark - a Steampunk comic

Menage à 3, which is sexy AND funny.

Pictures For Sad Children, which is very sad and funny.

And that's just some of 'em.

Last but not least, I go read up on Cracked.com almost everyday.
And with that, I must leave you yet again.
We are having some problems with the lease, but it'll be fine tomorrow, or so I hope.

Goodnight and sleep well!

Feelgood Part III: Nostalgia

2009-04-22T18:14:00.015+02:00

Dearly beloved,

we are gathered here today to celebrate and reminisce ~~no wedding though~~.

I was thinking about what to write my 3rd Feelgood post about, and then - for some reason - I got nostalgic.
So let's talk childhood memories.

We all have them. Some are good, some are bad (in those instances, a good memory is unpardonable, as my favourite heroine says). Let's talk good memories.

Like the time we all went to the Brussels Museum of Natural History to look (mainly) at the dinosaurs.
The time when I was ten and we were on a holiday and my dad gave me a pendant of lapis lazuli, which I held on to for about 7 years (and is now sadly no longer in my possession).
Oh, or when my mom and me actually connected about something (which is hard, admittedly, for a grown-up woman and a 12-year-old child) over how sad and sweet A Little Princess was, and how we both cried.
(or that time, several years later, when we both swooned over Jon Bon Jovi's appearance in Ally McBeal)

My, in retrospect, highly disturbing childhood.

Even the not so good memories gain some lustre over the years.
It horrified me at the time, but when I think of Roald Dahl's The Witches now, I'm smiling. At the time I was 7 or 8 years old and very moved by the book. In a bad, scary scary way.
For several weeks nothing or nobody could convince me that the Upper Witch was not, in fact, hiding behind my closet, waiting to eat me. I think my hygiene actually suffered (for they only smell clean children).
I didn't even dare watch the movie version until I was 13 or 14.

The stuff of nightmares. That's Angelica Houston, by the way. I'm just saying. Also, mice!

The soundtrack of my youth, too, is something precious to me.
I hadn't any musical preference at all until I was 15.
When we went on holiday (which, with just 1 exception, was invariably to some part of France, and always by car), my dad would play Marco Borsato (back when he still made really beautiful songs that actually meant something), Stef Bos, who is to this day a favourite with me, and Crowded House, whose lyrics I had even MORE difficulty understanding. Mrs. Hairy Legs? Is that what they're singing, dad? I don't get it. What is... what?

In fact, even though he, for years and years, detested the way I dressed (all goff and individual), he was the one who introduced me to the scene, by way of an Evanescence CD, which at first, he would play (in a darkened room, I kid you not!) and I would hate, and then somehow I started to like it.

conformist!! Like, yeah, dude!

I still like Evanescence. It's like ice pops and certain children's novels. Like how I wanted to dye my hair bright orange when I was 14 (incidentally on the last family vacation before my parents divorced) because Rose McGowan had hers bright orange on Charmed, and I loved her ~~but not yet in a dirty dirty way~~.

RAWR.

But I believe I'm somehow steering into melancholy.

The apartment is ours, as I wrote yesterday, and on the very month that we take possession of it, it will be two years since I spoke to my father.
Sometimes I wish I could invite him to come see my new house (and The Boy) when we're settled in, just like my mom and her new partner are coming to see it.
I don't know how to fix the problems we had, and still have. I don't know how to make contact when, in truth, I don't want it all back to the way it was, because I felt terrible back then. I just want for us to occasionally call each other. I want to know whatever big thing happens, even if I'm not included in the small ones.
If I ever get married, I want to invite him to the wedding. If I ever have a child, I want him or her to know their granddad.

Good things come to those who wait?
We shall see.

Goodnight.

Musings about The Future

2009-04-21T17:33:00.007+02:00

I am excessively pleased and quite wild, really, to be able to say:

WE GOT THE HOUSE!
Well, the apartment, but still.

The real estate person called me this morning around 9 (so it's a good thing I decided not to go to class!) and The Boy is coming here tonight after work so we can go sign the contract tomorrow morning.
And then he has to hurry back in time for work, but I look upon it as a tiny blessing.

And good lord, we actually got it!
I was getting quite apprehensive because my aunt, who the real estate person wanted to call for a reference on me and The Boy, hadn't been called at all on Monday; and because we only want the apartment starting July 1st - when in fact they wanted it rented out by June 1st.

I'm beside myself - it took me 6 hours to calm down and gather my thoughts so I could write this, ya know?

I keep seeing visions of myself in that house, sitting in the garden, taking a break from rose-nursing, drinking a cup of tea and reading Jane some more.

kind of like this, only younger, and more like Chuck:

that's right! And even more preferably while wearing:

THIS hat! Isn't it AWESOME? (like a hotdog!)

Unfortunately we won't be able to see it again till July- maybe in June, when the current occupants have moved, but still, I feel like I could march right over and start taking measurements, so I can look up awesome furniture already.

I keep wondering if we'll be allowed to paint it, if we could possibly get permission to work in our garden (right now it's just a plot of grass) and cultivate some flower-beds.

For the first 14 years of my life, I've lived in the same room in the same house. And then my parents divorced and every single year after that, we've been moving once a year.
I want to settle down now. I want something that truly feels like a home.
I like my studio, but I would never ever want to stay here for very long.

The plan, for now, is to stay in The New Apartment until I have graduated (in 2012, hopefully) and have a good job, and then find something bigger.

I could keep going on and on about this, but I just wanted to let you guys know.

I'll write something else as soon as I can actually think about anything else.

Ladies and Gentlemen: May I have your attention PLEASE.

2009-04-20T19:44:00.020+02:00

Having been occupied most of the day with fretting over whether or not, when, and with which news the appartment-giving-or-denying godlike person would call, I have had little to divert myself.

As I was supposed to participate in an experiment this afternoon, I resolved to do some laundry and groceries and keep my self diverted mainly by the virtue of the huge pile of dishes - a common sight after The Boy has left my abode.
Then in the afternoon, I would do the experiment, be back home, and wait.
However, obviously the experiment was cancelled last minute (without even an e-mail warning!) as I discovered only when already at the scene.
Way to go for wasting my time. Either way, having little else on my mind than "omg why doesn't she call can't she call please call already omg she'll so call when i'm in the little girl's room why why why why why", I was happily diverted both by my trusted sidekick E's offer of tea, and the perusal of some of my favourite blogs, after I got home.

Which brings me - at long lenght - to my point.
Look, I know I'm not a big fish, I know my blogging street cred is relatively low, BUT I feel you don't have to be great (or high and mighty) to appreciate the fine writing, interesting musings and diverting anecdotes of others.

And so I have decided to give out my first ever award.

Non-Eddie Izzard fans will no doubt be quite clueless (hint: rent all of his DVD's - you will not be sorry).

Without further ado, I have the pleasure of presenting to you:

The VANILLA awesome blog award.

Na-na-nana-na-na.

I hereby give it out to:

A bitch about Brittany;

Musings of a Muse;

Someday I'll get there;

That Unreliable Girl;

The Land of Earth Muffin.

So, I would urge you all to go and read them, as they are all in their own way equally wonderful, and tune back in tomorrow for - hopefully - more news about The Apartment.

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza: Pure Luxe - part two.

2009-04-19T16:29:00.000+02:00

Right. As promised last week: part two of the Pure Luxe series. Swatches. I’m not going to write a complete book about every single one, but my favourites will get a bigger review. You’ll probably notice right away which ones I like best.

Please note: colours on the left are applied dry (over a base); colours on the right are applied with mixing medium.

Dubloon
Deep khaki in jar. Once applied you will get a smoky antiqued gold.

This is by far one of my favourite colours. Ever. It’s a gorgeous, shimmery, khaki / old gold colour, like the description says. This is very suitable for daywear, eye-catching yet not overwhelmingly in-your-face, and it doesn’t make you look cheap, which some gold colours tend to do. Au contraire. This is the epitome of class. Also, I’ve noticed that of all my PL samples, this one stays on best (as in: no creasing).

Chocomint
Medium brown with a mint green interference.

First of all: I look like a badly caricaturized prostitute wearing green. Which is horrible, since I absolutely adore every shade of green available. But alas. No use wearing things that make me look horrible, so I gave my green samples away. But then, one sunny summer day (well, actually it was February), I got adventurous, and, despite the obvious warning “mint green interference”, I ordered Chocomint. And all in all, I’m glad I did. It’s a marvellous colour. Like the description says, the main colour is a very light brown, and it has a beautiful golden green sheen all over it. Because of the brown being the main colour, the green isn’t really that noticeable. Until sunlight hits it. Then: WHAM! Awesomeness everywhere, as seen in the picture, the green is where the light hits it. This effect is much more subtle when applied dry, but I didn’t quite manage to catch it on photo. A real must-have for everyone who loves green, but shares my problem. This is your chance!

Love Spell
Lavender/blue base with brighter blue/sea green interference. Satin finish with medium shimmer.

One of the few blue colours that doesn’t look tacky on me, as long as I apply it dry. Mixing medium makes the blue too prominent; when applied dry, it’s more lavender than blue.

Forged
Deep bittersweet bronze. STRONG metallic cast.

Forged is a colour from the Heavy Metalz collection. As you might’ve noticed: this is an insanely gorgeous metallic colour. To get this beautiful effect, all colours in this collection contain real (cosmetically approved, of course) metal powder. In the case of Forged: bronze powder. Definitely not something I wear on a daily basis, but a real eye catcher at parties. (Swatch is just applied dry, as this colour is so pigmented it doesn’t even need mixing medium)

Crush
Bright copper with lots of shimmer.

The picture makes this one look a LOT more orange than it’s supposed to be. In real life, it’s a beautiful coppery/brownish colour. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really look great on me, but it’s a beautiful colour nonetheless.

Risque
Crushed velvet in a jar! Warm red/brown.

Same thing as Crush: I can’t really seem to pull this one off (not for daywear, that is), but it’s such a beautiful colour I can’t get rid of it…

Golden Sands
Soft taupe brown with bronze shimmer.

A subtle golden brown colour. Not too sure where that ‘bronze shimmer’ is, but it does have adorable purple/blue/green-ish sparkles :)

Willow
Light pastel green with silver frosting.

Honestly, this one’s more gold than green, especially when applied dry. Maybe gold with a hint of green. But hey, you won’t hear me complaining ^^

Peach Parfait
A medium warm peach shimmer.

Beautiful peachy colour, and absolutely perfect for when you want a more subtle, natural look.

The Aura Collection

I have three colours from this collection: Purple Aura, Turquoise Aura, and Opal Aura (pink). In the jar, they’re just white. Applied dry, the colour changes from white to *whatever colour you chose* when the light hits it. Applied wet, the effect is much more intense, creating a gorgeous pastel colour.

Tattoo awesomeness!

2009-04-18T22:28:00.005+02:00

First of all: I'm so sorry for not having posted as much as I usually do. The last few days have been plenty hectic, and much excited frenzy has ensued, for several reasons.

Obviously, there was My Tattoo, which is now on par with The Boy as in, both need to be capitalized because they're both awesome.

My Tattoo is wonderful, and pretty, and awesome in general.
I'm also happy to report that I have now found a regular tattoo artist in Tanne of Body Design Gent. What a striking difference with my very first tattoo experience!
The whole thing was just so relaxed, and I was so very comfortable that I don't hesitate to announce that all my future work (for which I have several ideas ^^) will probably been done by that very artist.
I was allowed to read and was spontaneously given smoking breaks. She explained whatever I wanted to know and was just, in general, very good at comforting nervous and needlessly-worried people, such as my humble self.

I'm very pleased with My Tattoo itself and especially love the shading, but that should get a little lighter as the excess ink *wears off* or *disappears magically* - or rather, not so magically, as my 'icky tattoo healing cotton shirt' is kind of inky now.

Tataaaa!!! Woop woop!

That's a first picture, done by The Boy with his cell phone (camera still refusing duty, have no idea what self did to offend mighty technology overlord) - more will follow after everything is healed and I am no longer forced to wear this hideous bra.

Secondly, The Boy had his tat done today, also by Tanne, and was mighty pleased as well.

It is (let's check this spelling, shall we?) Mictlantecuhtli, god of (one of the several) Aztec underworlds ~~that were scarcely better than Aztec everyday life, IMO~~.

I can only offer you a blurry picture of that one, since The Boy is much better at cellphone photography than I am.

Oeeeeee! Oeeeeee!!!

I LOVE the shading on it - which should also be getting lighter as the tattoo heals.

(and yes, we had chocolate milkshake. Lots of it.)

And of course, we weren't JUST sitting in a tattoo parlour for three days, we were also appartment-hunting.
As some of you may know, The Boy and I have decided to start living together as of July/August/September.
We have found something we really like and which seems extraordinarily fit for us, as it has:

+ a garden - where Evil Kitty may play and rage about at his heart's content, and we may venture to plant some flowers and enjoy drinks on cool summer evenings.
+ a seperate bedroom, something I've been dreaming of for the last two years ~~in this hellhole~~.
+ a bath tub. I swear, I died. A BATH TUB. Thank you, LORD, I knew you wouldn't forsake me.
+ lots of space
+ very very close to a bus stop which would take us to the station AND the city centre within 5 minutes.
and many more ordinary things which I crave because I am very boring.
Like a good kitchen.

The problem was, is available starting June 1st, and since my lease doesn't end till Sept. 1st, that'd be three extra months of rent.
However, it being so perfect, we offered the landlady to take it starting July. That'd give us plenty of time to move, and maybe she would take a liking to us and take it.

So, she told us to mail the agency handling everything - we called - and explain the situation.
Next day, we call first thing.
Office person tells us she'll call landlady in the afternoon, says hope-giving things (i.e. "To be honest, I just want it off my hands as quick as possible, we get so many calls that lead to nothing about it." &c) and will call back.
At six, having heard nothing, we resigned to not hearing anything till after the weekend, BUT NO!
8 o'clock, owner of agency calls, asks us for references.
Woop!
So we mailed her some numbers (The Boy's parents, my aunt, banks, current landlord, who in his guilt, promised to be nice) and she said we'd heard from her again on Monday or Tuesday.

That's good, right?
Let's all knock on wood and keep our fingers crossed!

Other than that, we've just been hounding agencies, running about all over the place &c.

So I leave you now, dear reader, with a promise of the second installment of E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravaganza tomorrow and a more coherent post from myself on Monday.

More nerdy book mania.

2009-04-14T18:15:00.010+02:00

I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.
(Jane Austen)

Oh Jane! How I love you.

That woman - but I seem to be drifting from my original statement (or rather, the quote I shamefully scribbled down to hide my lack of originality).

I live on my own, and indeed, I have a library.
It's not the library I want, granted, but a collection of books which I shall liberally call "a library", nonetheless.

What I realy want is this:

Taller, though. And in warmer colours. And with the darkest mahogany wood I could possibly find.
And with portraits of my favourite writers interspersed on the wall.
Also, not sure about the floor. I'd like it to be a round room, sure, but with a hardwood floor, possibly covered in the softest carpet in existence. And nobody would be allowed to wear shoes in there.

Sunday is mandatory keep-your-jammies-on-day.
Good lord. Why do I fantasize about this? Good Lord.

Either way, in between studying sessions, I found myself grabbing the new Michel Faber, Fire Gospel, which I had purchased a few months ago and never bothered to read until now because I had (and still have) a sudden case of Jane Austen mania.
Well, I read the first page, looked up 2 hours later and started mentally cursing at myself for the lost study time.
I then read the rest of the novel.

It's short, it's powerful, it's evocative, it asks questions with only brief hints at answers - just the way I like it.
It's especially interesting, too, because it's about ~~Baby Jesus~~, well, I can't give you the particulars, because I firmly believe that would ruin your true enjoyment of the novel, but as the title suggests, it is about a new gospel being discovered, translated and published.
Go read it. I swear, you will not hate me for wasting your time.

I also picked up Jane Austen's Mansfield Park again, with the heroine I never particularly liked but am starting to warm up to now: Fanny Price. Perhaps it's because of her name (which, as you might recall, is the same as the evil sister-in-law of the Dashwood sisters), maybe it's just her damn shyness, not sure, but that's how it was and no longer is.
Fanny is awesome.

Even more awesome is reading some Jane Austen with Unforgettable in the background, which is just nostalgic enough for it. If I had any original piano concertos on my laptop, I would put those on, but hey, you have to work with what you have.

OH GOD.
There exist, in this world which you and I both live in, as well as lots of other people, JANE AUSTEN T-SHIRTS.
My nerdy fangirl heart just leaped up and is preparing to launch into outer space.
They're pretty basic, but still - JANE SHIRTS!

They have awesome matched pairs where one is 'pride' and the other 'prejudice' (or you could get cheeky and buy a 'sense' and a 'pride' so people have no idea what you're about).
What are the odds I can get The Boy to agree with buying these, and actually wearing them? As in, in public?

Must. Find. Leverage.
I would offer him my firstborn child, but he doesn't want children. Dammit.
I could dump him and find a Jane fanboy. (a straight one).

No, never going to happen.
Still, I can keep dreaming.

Also, I'm aware that there are shops where you can have your text of choice printed onto a shirt without paying 20 pounds for it, so I'm going to do that instead.

And with that, I leave you - until the morrow.

Tradition

2009-04-13T18:28:00.008+02:00

Dear readers,
today I have decided, somewhat late, to make a traditional Easter post.
Well, actually, I will be rambling on and on aimlessly, but that's a good tradition, I guess, so let's not cut that out, shall we?

My good friend E. told me yesterdag that at her in-laws place, they didn't eat any meat on good Friday, which struck her as peculiar since here in Belgium, that's considered kind of an old-fashioned habit and her in-laws aren't even really religious.
We both had a good laugh when, that same night, lots of candy was being distributed and several people were - figuratively speaking - forced to go to the hospital for chocolate-overdosing.
(which, by the way, is how I wanna die. Seriously.)

We pegged it down as an odd family tradition and thought no more of it.

But then I started thinking.
Tradition isn't so bad, is it?

Well, I mean, I don't have any.

I've been living alone for two years and have no traditions to mention, except perhaps an occasional lapse of focus during studying which inevitably leads to me, curled up in front of the TV. Which is baaaaaaaad!

I guess I'm just too damn cynical.
But honestly, wouldn't you be?
Easter is about the (alledged) ressurection of ~~Zombie Jesus~~ Jesus Christ, not about candy.
I prefer the candy, but that's still how it is.
I doubt "Our Lord" had meant for us all to gorge on chocolate and those teensy weensy sugar eggs that I love so much. Ya' know, that was probably not the point.

(unless of course he had this in mind)

We all know that the traditions of yore have long since been watered down (or shimmied up) to something the masses enjoy more than religious fervor (not that I mind that) and deep thought about the state of the world and peace among mankind and SIIIIIIIN.
Tradition is something we cast a glance at, sniggering cynically.

It's just a way to sell beer.

(you know it!)

But I object!

I want traditions!
I want to wake up fifteen, twenty years from now, on Christmas or Mother's Day, or Spaghetti Monster Day and know what to look forward to! I want to know that on Christmas, we will all be eating french fries with lots of mayo because we're so hardcore cynical awesome whatever. Or, possibly, that my young'uns will have sat up all nights to catch a glimpse of Santa, and that Santa is going to be our obese Pakistani neighbor.

I want Sundays, or Saturdays, whichever, to be special. Every Wednesday: visit to the ice-cream parlor! Every Friday: a new dish we never ate, and then, because I can't cook worth shit, we order pizza.

That sort of thing.

Not too much tradition, because it'd become boring, but something, maybe.
I don't know.

What about you?

Do you have any traditions? Would you like to have them someday?
Tell me =]

E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravangza: Pure Luxe cosmetics

2009-04-12T17:08:00.004+02:00

Sado: Today we're going to do something a little different.
As mentioned before, we will, from this day on, bring you weekly installments of guest blogs by my trusted sidekick E., who, as you will recall, is a big part of why I am who I am today - especially where skincare and cosmetics are concerned.

So without further ado, I present to you the very first part of "E's Extraordinarily Eloquent Extravanga"!

Dear readers,
I have a shameful confession to make. No matter how hard I will try to deny it in the unlikely case you try to personally confront me with it, I seem to have some serious addictions.
(Well, not serious. Let’s call ‘em “strange yet harmless”. Sounds MUCH better, doesn’t it?)
Breathing is one of them. I absolutely adore breathing. Yup.
Making cookies, that’s another one. Show me a recipe, and I go nuts.
And, superficial as it may seem, make up is also one of them. Especially eye shadow. Give me some fancy colours, and I can entertain myself for hours.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I refuse to go outside without anything on. I’ve been known to venture into the wild, ruthless jungle that is my city of residence with naked eyelids on several occasions. Shopping, doing laundry, and even (*gasp*) when going to classes. But that doesn’t mean I like it. I always have the feeling something’s missing. You know, the feeling you get when you hurry outside, and halfway through you realize you’re still wearing your slippers/pyjamas/nothing at all? That kind of feeling.

Now. As an undercover eye shadow addict, I’m constantly on the lookout for possibly awesome products and brands. I have a bad habit of standing in shops, staring at make up stands. Which, of course, makes me look silly. Because even though I’m analyzing every single colour in my mind (and therefore being VERY mentally active), it just looks as if I’m... well... staring. And slightly brain dead. That’s why I love shopping for make-up online. No one around to give you strange looks while you keep looking back and forth, a different colour in each hand, desperately trying to decide which one will look best on you. No people going “Ooh, she’s buying useless stuff! There’s an economic crisis going on, you know!” No social stigma! w00t!

My favourite online make up store EVER is Pure Luxe Cosmetics. Christina Kocher, the founder of Pure Luxe, sells mineral make up. Not just eye shadow, but also things like foundation, concealer, blush, lipgloss, brushes, and even some skin care products. Although the greater part of my Pure Luxe collection consists of the eye colours, I also have some foundation, concealer, and lining gel. And I LOVE them. Especially the concealer (“What Red?”), which I use daily to hide my ridiculously red cheeks.

But enough of that, on to the shadows… Pure Luxe has an amazing range of highly pigmented colours. And when I say ‘amazing’, I really do mean amazing. The first time I visited the site, I discovered colours I didn’t even know existed. Fun? Yes and no. Mostly yes, though.
Yes, there are lots of different colours to choose from, ranging from natural to extremely bright and colourful, and even colours that are all shimmer, react to blacklight, and so on. If you don’t find anything to your liking here, it’s your own damn fault.
And no. 200+ colours to choose from can be VERY overwhelming, especially for those of you who aren’t quite sure which colours will look good and which ones won’t. Chances are you won’t even know where to start looking. But don’t let that scare you, oh no… There’s a solution to your problem!

Pure Luxe sells samples. Wonderful samples, I might add. Magical, even.
…ok, not magical. But awesome nonetheless.
They’re as cheap as 1$ per jar (2$ for special colours, but more on those next week), and VERY generous. When you order a sample, you get 1/8 teaspoon. Now, I know, that doesn’t sound like much. But for shadows, it is. Apparently. I’ve had my samples for over 6 months now, and I haven’t finished a single one yet. I’m quite positive you have enough for at least 20 applications; maybe even more. And if you don’t like the colour (which is always a risk you have to be willing to take when buying online), at least you’re not stuck with a huge, expensive jar. Instead, you’re stuck with an adorable little jar you can give away, as a surprise gift to friends. Or you can just chuck ‘em out without guilt. I’d suggest the first option, though.

Now, I WAS going to show you some swatches, as a sneek peek for next week’s article (which, I might as well spoil the surprise now, will be detailed swatches and reviews of some of my favourite PL colours, just so you can get a better idea). Unfortunately, the lighting here sucks, so all I could manage to take pictures of was either an overly lit arm or a completely dark arm. So yes. I apologise. But I promise I'll more than make up for this horrible lack of photographic evidence next week.

...to be continued...

Upcoming tattoo

2009-04-10T18:23:00.006+02:00

I'm going to be honest here.
I'm getting pretty jittery over my upcoming tattoo (next Thursday, in fact).
I mean, it's too soon. This isn't fair. I had to wait for two months.
Two months isn't long enough! I need more waiting time!

Can I just skip that entire week, please? Wake up after and it's all done, perfectly healed and all? (Cuz you know, I can't get water on it for a full week. Kinda difficult to wash my hair if I can't get my shoulder blade wet. No, I have no bathtub to kneel down at.)

Yes, I know I'm a sissy.
I don't mind being called a sissy. It's true.

I already have one tattoo (a small G clef in the back of my neck), and I know, I know, I got really worked up about that one too, before I actually had it done and it wasn't so bad.

But that took, what, ten minutes? Fifteen? Maybe?

Granted, I'm only getting the one on the left done, not the other one, but still...

This baby is going to take 2 ~~fuggen~~ whole hours. Makes me cry in anticipation.

Do you think I'd be allowed to read during? I mean, a good Austen novel would distract me, probably. That'd be nice.
Plus, I'm a smoker and the "urge" gets way worse when I have nothing else to focus on. So if I'm reading, I'm ignoring both the urge AND the pain.

I could wander off into that lovely world that is Austen England, and laugh heartily at Mr. Collins. I could just try to decide - no, I still haven't made my decision - whether I prefer Colin Firth or the other Mr. Darcy.

Also, you know...

I could not be there. Not being there sounds like a world of good to me.

And I know, it's going to be worth it. I wouldn't get it if I didn't think it'd be worth it.

There's something poetic about experiencing that pain, and walking away with a token of something that means so much to you. Like you earned it, just by sitting through it. Except that you still have to pay a lot of money.

My facial piercings were the exact same thing (except I know for a fact those don't hurt.) Worry worry worry, then relief.
And a chocolate milkshake for my troubles, thank you very much.

So yeah. I think I'll go for two milkshakes this time.

Feelgood pt. 2: Charlotte "Chuck" Charles

2009-04-09T16:27:00.011+02:00

... and indeed, all of the wonderful double-concentrated feelgood that is Pushing Daisies.

Remember how I told you ~~while we were sipping Bordeaux and admiring the sunset~~ in my "about me" that I was going through a fun, colourful, perky clothing phase, as inspired by Chuck?
So do I.
And I feel - I really, really do feel - that I absolutely NEED to elaborate.

Lookit her! Innit she cuuute? Yeshi is! yeshiiss!

Chuck Charles is, character-wise, everything I wish and aspire to be (well, that + being a licensed therapist - and, you know, actually alive) in that everytime she pops up on my TV-screen, I start smiling spontaniously and start counting my blessings.

1. Am able to touch the man I love (though The Boy does not bake pies for a living, or is even remotely charmingly neurotic, like Ned)
2. I, too, can dress like her.
3. I, too, can spread the sunshine. People are intolerable rude (and in some cases, cruel) to one another. I like smiling at strangers. (if I feel safe and validated - as a precaution)

I also, within the ten minutes of her first appearance on said TV-screen, began to lament the fact that my fair was not, in fact, long, curly and/or brown. Luckily, I am usually a down-to-earth person, and after realizing I could not possibly remedy this fact, began to realize that there were other ways to spread the Chuck-happy.

But I'm starting to wander off here.
Point is: spreading the sunshine.
(and looking charmingly awesome).

What? Even her make-up was bee-related!

(I'll just mention this in passing, but this text editing tool ~~sucks a--~~ is not of superior quality. Seriously, clicking the "i" thing means italics, not normal text. Unclicking it means stop with the italics already. Ugh.

Anyhoo, where was I?

Yes, my Chuck-inspired style.

Now, since my camera is broken and I am unfortunately unable to keep a photographer as my slave, I must rely on pictures from Google, so some are missing, and other are not quite what I have, as seen below:

My sunglasses are the ones on top. I rushed to your general aid with bad Paint-skills.

They're actually red, though, but otherwise, they're quite alike.
I bought them because they matched my red coat (H&M, 50 euros)
I cannot find a picture of it anywhere because H&M's website is the most idiot thing in the history of ever, but it's read, and tailored, and knee-lenght, and lined with red-white polkadot fabric on the inside. So yeah. Awesome.

I am still on a quest for summer shoes, since I normally just wear my combat boots (I have done so for the three previous summers) and I'm getting kind of sick of it.
So I need shoes with a heel that I can walk on, and that match most of my clothes.

And the current shoe fasion trends all kind of suck.

Woe is me. Woe indeed.

I feel rather distracted today, so I'll quit while I'm ahead and just leave you with this:

Extra! Extra! Sado is forgetful!

2009-04-08T22:42:00.008+02:00

I hope, my darlings,

that you will all readily forgive me for my horrid forgetfulness, especially as:

1. You have no idea what the forgetfulness issue is even about, as I don't think I have mentioned it before AND
2. I will make up for it immediately.

What I forgot was, that, while E. was here to rescue me re: the photos of my bookshelf I had promised, I also asked her to take a bunch of pics of me with some of my tea and with my Kitty Of Doom, Typhus. (We tried to take a good picture of Typhus on his own as well, but he was extremely jumpy for no apparent reason).

So here they are:

(nobody ever admits it, but you can see the murder in his eyes, can't you? I know it.)

I got him off the internet (which is a cautionary tale for all of you - murder kitties are online, sweet kitties are in the pound or with friends), as it were, in an ad, when I just moved out and got my own place. I was turning eighteen in a few weeks, and being alone scared the shit out of me, which is why I opted for a cat as a pet. The cat is had in mind was:

1. Female
2. Small
3. Sweet and/or lazy

Typhus, on the other hand, is:

1. Male. Well, not anymore. I had him neutered - not that it calmed him down in the least.
2. Well, okay, he's not huge, so that's fine.
3. Neither of those. To be fair, he did calm down a bit lately. But I swear I could use him as a watchdog. I'd be totally safe.

Hey, remember how I said in my "about me" bit that everything dies in my hands.
I wasn't kidding:

(these are my dead orchids.
I mean, how little water do these even need? And they still die on me :( )

And no, I am not an alcoholic. It's madeira wine, which I used once to make tomato-meatballs. They failed.

(in conclusion: I like tea. A lot.)

Though I have to be fair and say I never drink the Camomille. That's The Boy's. I don't think he drinks it now anymore, either, though. Odd.
Am going through a vanilla-heavy period right now (vanilla lip balm, vanilla body butter, vanilla tea, a blog named after vanilla tea,...), but my Twinings Vanilla Black Tea isn't shown here since I keep those in my special Tea Box, which is cute and made of wood and which I love love love... but forgot to take a picture of.

And on that happy note, I leave you.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for my Feelgood pt. 2!

Bookshelf extravaganza!

2009-04-08T16:45:00.014+02:00

Today, my loves,
I am making good on my promise to show ya'll my bookcase - which makes me feel both immensly proud and immensly frustrated, as it is way too small.
(Anekdote alert: when me and The Boy just bought it, I immediately knew it wouldn't be big enough - and nor is my studio, frankly - so I was planning an entire redecoration for maximum extra-bookcases potential. Unfortunately, The Boy didn't like this, as he is as avid a collector as I am, only of CD's - and thus would require an entire case of his own. So we decided to postpone it 'till August, which is when we'll be moving in together.)

Back to basics:

(top shelf, right hand)

(also top shelf, right hand, but behind the stack in the above pic)

(top shelf, left hand)

(2nd shelf, right hand - Jane Austen addiction alert!)

(2nd shelf, left hand)

I will spare you pictures of the 3rd shelf, which is mostly DVD's interspersed with more books, mostly textbooks etc.
"Gee Sado, that's not so bad!"

Right - but it's a small bookcase.
Check out my closet:

There's more behind all of those, guys. I swear I have too many books.
I'll spare you the close-ups :p
So how's it work?
I just put my favourites of the moment onto the case, and leave the rest in the closet.

Some of my favourite right now:

1. First up, most of Jane Austen's work is in my bookcase in the Penguin Classics editions - even though I'd love to get my hands on a hardback copy.
I still need Persuasion and the shorter novels (Susan &c) and then my collection will be complete.
For those of you who haven't read anything by her yet, you absolutely must, she's a wonderful writer and each and everyone of those books are classics! After reading one of her novels, I always speak the way she writes and feel like saying things such as "Oh, indeed not!" "I find this city most pleasing, and the society quite diverting." &c, which makes me smile.

2. Another one of my favourite writers is Michel Faber, who is, of course, most known for his "magnum opus" The Crimson Petal And The White" (perhaps I may by and by observe that the Dutch translation of that title is much pleasanter than the original - Lelieblank, Scharlakenrood), which I have in Dutch and English, after The Boy's mother decided she would rather not read the book and said she would throw it out (!!!).
The Crimson Petal takes us to Victorian London where we follow Sugar, a prostitute who hopes to better herself by becoming the mistress of rich captain of industry, William Rackham (who, by the way, she helped become rich because he's a good-for-nothing-lazy-person). It contains so many Victorian novel elements (the rich man with the hooker mistress, the forgotten child, the mad wife) but seen from a refreshing 21st century perspective.
I swear to you, it is an addiction. I read the entire 900+ page thing in one day.
Less well known, but definitely as good, is Under The Skin, which I cannot possibly tell you about because you need to discover all its secrets by yourself, ASAP.
Go on. Off to the bookstore. I'll wait here and make myself a snack.

...back? (I know you didn't go anywhere! But no worries, I am confident my recommendation will haunt you, urging you to look for the book for three years, as I did, until you get your hands on it and never want to let it go again. You'll see).

I also own several collections of short stories by him, and though they are very different in style and topic, they are all very enjoyable.
My favourite story ever is that of The Fahrenheit Twins, who are both endearing and sort of creepy in an endearing way. I cannot possibly explain it. Go read it.

3. Must I honestly tell you about the Dune series?
Must I really?
Anekdote alert: I came across this series a while ago when using the little girls room in a friend's house (even though it was both a little girls room and a little boys room in one, obviously, he does not live in a palace), and there it was, lying there, so I read a few pages, then thought no more of it.
Everytime I went there, I checked if the book weren't there, and I'm quite positive my friends must've thought I had some sort of medical condition since I'd be using the facilities for ever longer periods of time, until finally, I bought my own copy.
And no, I refuse to explain what Frank Herbert's award winning series is about. I flatly refuse.

4. I will tell you upfront that I am no lover of history novels, in general. Nevertheless, Tracy Chevalier's work MADE me read it. I swear. We needz it! We must have it!
I started, obviously, with Girl With A Pearl Earring, having seen the movie first (gasp!) with my trusted sidekick E.
That was - what? - four or five years ago, and I am sure I have read the book nine or ten times since then, which is a lot for me, since I buy or borrow new books continually. It never fails to amuse and fascinate. If you haven't read it yet, do so immediately - also, watch the film, it's quite good - even though - rule n0. 1: The book is always better than the movie.
I then read The Virgin Blue, which I can only read when I am quite emotionally stable, as it is very disconcerting to me, for some reason.
Just a few months ago, I came across The Lady And The Unicorn in ~~Walhalla~~ FNAC, and I had to buy it.
I was forced to against my will.
You see, Tracy Chevalier has the very very SLY habit of adding the first chapter of another novel to every book she has, apparently to torment readers into buying all of them.
Well, I did, and I loved it.
Unicorns will never look innocent to me again (even though, to be fair, after viewing Charlie The Unicorn, that kind of was a set thing for me).

What are your absolute favourites?
Let me know!

PS.
Announcement: starting Monday, my mysterious best friend E. will be joining us every week with a guest article.
Her debut will (a little birdie told me) be about a certain brand of awesome buy-online cosmetics.
Tune in ;)

2009-04-07T15:20:00.007+02:00

Dear reader,

I am proud to present you with part 1 in my Feelgood series:

Hairspray!!

If you're feeling blue, this is the movie to see!

Not only is the soundtrack the most "iieee giddy happy" thing I have heard in forever, the movie itself is awesome for several reasons:

1. John Travolta playing an obese woman. Yes, you read that correctly.

Tadaaaa!

2. I'm all for movies with a message, even more so if it's brought with humor and sensitivity. Two thumbs up here!

3. Okay, I know I promised not to mention the soundtrack here, but it makes you hop up and down. Dancing-in-your-underwear-good!

4. One of the things I love MOST about this movie, is the crushing sarcasm and irony in it.

Point in case:

Scenario: a position has opened up on the dance team of Tracy (the overweight, naive main character)'s favourite show.
The show's host, Corny, announces this and mentions that the position has opened up because one of the girls will be "taking some time off".

Corny: So, how long will you be gone for?
Girl: [uncomfortable smile] Oh... just nine months.
Corny: [turns to viewers] So, we're looking for a girl who's just as fun-loving, but not quite as free-wheelin'. [broad grin]

5. Michelle Pfeiffer, in yet another hair-care related movie, singing about how her "screwing the judges" won her the title of "Miss Baltimore Crabs".

6. The fat, unpopular girl gets the hot guy.
I mean, don't we all love a happy ending?

7. John Travolta. In a dress. As a woman. Singing a love duet with Christopher Walken.
Gold, no?

Saw it? Liked it? Loved it? Hated it?
Share your favourite moments, right here in Vanilla's comment section ;)

Ps:
John Travolta: I wish you wouldn't wear your hair that high!
Tracy: But even our first lady does it!
John: I don't believe that.
Tracy: What? How else did you think it got that way?
John: [smugly] I believe it is naturally stiff.

Twilight: To Read Or Not To Read?

2009-04-07T14:00:00.004+02:00

Dear reader,

I planned on showing you my bookcase and making a huge post about all my favourite books and authors today.
Unfortunately, my camera has decided to give up on me. I figured the batteries were dead and replaced them, but it still doesn't work.
Rain check?

Instead, I just decided, I am going to make a huge post, but it'll be about a series of books I have never read.

It's hard to be witty about them, since several bloggers and site (including Occupation: Girl) have already made reviews, chapter by chapter lulz alerts, and counts of how many times the word "chagrin" is used.
Ring a bell?

I am, indeed, talking about Twilight.

Now, you may not think it fair of me to discuss a book, or a series of books, which I have not (yet? think again) read, but in my defence I have the following to say.

About three or four weeks ago, I was relatively bored, and did what I typically do in those situations: go to Cracked.com, read a random article, and follow links to much "LULZ".
I arrived at a pdf-file called "Midnight Sun" of some hundred pages. I read about fifteen and laughed my ass off.
It was about the first Twilight book, the general (lack of) plot I was aware of through various interwebz comments, and apparently viewed the entire book from the point of view from ~~Sparkly Faggot~~ Edward Cullen, the miraculously dazzling vampire teen.

I swear to you that I was absolutely convinced that this was a fanfic, written by your average 13-year-old fangirl, who obviously needed to spend a little more time studying for her English class, and rather less reading crappy "novels".

Hilarity ensued a week later, when I found out that Midnight Sun was, in fact, the new project by Twilight "author" Stephenie Meyer. (for more hilarity: visit her website and read the post announcing how she cannot possibly continue a project of which a draft has leaked - then imagine musicians and filmmakers, or indeed any serious author having the same reaction)

In short, if you write like a 13-year-old, then everybody may righteously make fun of you. End of story.

The thing is, having read so many wonderful and funny blogs about the subject (in all cases denouncing the book, and, typically, the author) I actually feel like reading it.
Only I'm afraid some of my brain cells will spontaniously commit suicide. And we don't want that, do we?

Having read Occupation: Girl's chapter by chapter reviews, I can't help but feel like it would be nice to read them sometime, not out of any form of literary interest, but because the benefits for your health by laughing are well documented, and "I dearly love a laugh".

I cannot possibly persuade myself to spend money on the series, though, and also would not wish to be seen by any of my acquintance, so you, dear reader, must help me by devising a cunning plan to get the book(s?) here unseen, and for free.

Let's go over our options:

1. Library.
No! Paper trail!
Yes! Free!
Yes! Can hide book in my bag so as not to be spotted by anyone I know.

2. Buy it anyway (crappy novels are notoriously cheap).
No! Money!
No! Cashier person will think am Twitard. Have carefully built reputation for buying good books only.
No! Will have copy around the house forever!
Yes! Might be cheap, and can read English version for maximum funny bone impact.

3. ???

In conclusion, dear reader, what is your opinion on this subject? Would you read them, endangering your precious brain? Would you not read them, thereby giving up the chance to laugh as you have never laughed before?

What would you do in my stead?

Help me conquer this dillema, and I promise you many interesting posts to come.

SteamCream goodness!

2009-04-06T14:11:00.004+02:00

Dear reader,

it is with great pleasure that I am able to inform you that I have, at last, found the Holy Grail in skin care.

Its name is SteamCream, and, for the Lush lovers among you, it is actually concocted by Lush CEO Andrew Gerrie.
Using only environmentally friendly and mostly vegan ingredients, it's a lot like Lush products, only cheaper, as far as I can tell.
The SteamCream.eu website sells it for 9.95 pounds a tin, but for the Belgian and Dutch people among us: Alice&Jo's havesentials webshop has all designs at 10 euros a tin for the next for weeks (so race over there!).

"Designs?" you say.
Designs, dear readers.

SteamCream comes in different adorable tins, designed by Japanese artist Takayuki Totsuka, who is based in Tokyo.
My copy is called "Kyoto Girl" and is just as adorable as it sounds:

On the website, you can admire all 12 current designs. A new design will be issued every month - I know I'm going to look out for that!

The cream itself is white, very light, and melts into your skin almost immediately.
I tried it on my face (for which I intend it, mostly) and, to see if it actually works like I read it did, on my notoriously rough elbows.
Like it?
LOVE IT.

I can't recall when my face has ever felt so soft. My elbows are definitely less rough now, so perhaps I'll order another tin just for my body. I'm kind of reluctant to use one tin for two wholly different areas.

The smell is subtle, quite nice, and, most importantly for facial cream, not imposing at all.
I don't want my perfume to counteract with a myriad of nauseating smells from my skin care products, so it's perfect from my point of view.

Have any experience with SteamCream? Like it, love it, hate it?

Let me know =]

Must have: the best scrub in existence!

2009-04-04T22:07:00.001+02:00

Having for the best part of my life been a scrub-nonbeliever myself, I nevertheless have felt the need - oddly frequently - to try a pretty and nicely smelling scrub. You know - just to see if it would win me over.

A month or so ago, the miracle did, at last, happen.

It's called Sluscious Sugar Scrub, contains my old time favourites cinnamon and orange, and I swear I need it sir, but I can quit!

(Seen here in the Strawberry version)

Made by "native" company De Laurier, who use fresh ingredients to make fair (and awesome!) products, this is a must-have.
The fresh scent, wonderfully nutricious almond & avocado oil finish and the great price/quality ratio should transform every newbie into a firm believer.

When I first used the product, I put on my jammies (even though it was 4 in the afternoon) and spent the rest of the afternoon in a blanket on my bed, watching feel good movies. That's how good this is.

For those who are more difficult to persuade: this is actually the first product I have hooked my friend E. on, who was quoted as saying "A worthy replacement for my Lush scrub."
Coming from a Lush snob, that's a lot, as I'm sure you will all agree.

Big thumbs up!

De Laurier products are to be found in Essenza stores in Belgium and the Netherlands. I have no info on availability outside of my own region.

Yes!

2009-04-03T10:15:00.001+02:00

I am happy to inform you, reader, that today I have received my Havesentials package, containing:

David&Goliath's "Wanna Bone?" lip balm, which frankly I bought because I thought it was hilarious.

2 - amazingly cheap! - Barry M. eyeshadow pencils, because a girl can never have enough of those.

(they're pretty and pink too ^^)

One can of Pin-Up Lip Balm, tangerine-flavoured, because I adore tangerine:

And what I am sure is the best lip balm ever, namely Rose&Co's Sweet Vanilla Salve, with Beeswax and Honey:

I got all this for a mere 22 euros, that is including postage etc.
I haven't tried all of it yet, but here are my thoughts for now:

The Tangerine Pin-Up Balm is in the cutest little box, but since it is not sealed quite shut, I am worried about leaving it in my pocked and it melting and pouring out. Rationally, I know this isn't going to happen, but I'll need to find a small make-up bag to put it in nevertheless.
I tried it just now and it instantly smoothed and soothes my dried, cracked lips (the curse and joy of being me is having lips that don't take long to any which lip balm, and therefor I am in constant need of new balm, so I may switch).

The Sweet Vanilla salve I have not yet tried, but will update on later. I just want to say that for this price, you get a helluva lot of balm, and it smells marvelous! I'd buy it for the cute tin alone.

The Barry M. eyeshadow pencils feel amzingly short, yet sturdy, and for this price, I wouldn't care if they fell apart in a week either.

The Wanna Bone? packaging was so cute I was sorry to open it, but again, smells VERY good, a sweet vanilla scent that's actually stronger than my vanilla body lotion, so kudos!

All in all, I'm more than happy with my order, and will provide pictures soon.

Well hello there.

2009-03-23T14:39:00.002+01:00

So here I am - at last - starting to blog.

Am I interesting? In all likelihood, only moderately so.
You have been warned.

Will I keep this up? Probably on and off, depending on my work for school &c.
Don't be alarmed, you probably won't miss a thing.

Read me if:

* you're always in need of more good books to read
* you like knowing which movies suck, which don't, and which suck but are worth watching anyway because they're so damn hilarious.
* you like tea. I go on and on about tea. I'm technically a Twinings-girl, but have been known to cheat on my beloved.
* you have a cat, and wish to read about one who is decidedly more evil than your own. Mine is Typhus, and it wants to rule the Earth.
* you like hearing interesting titbits like "research by [those and those] has shown that [something you never saw coming is, in fact, true]".
* you have no life of your own and are very interested in what clothes I wear and what haircut I have. (stalkers not appreciated.)

For now, I would just like to say hello. Nice to meet you.